92: Bakers And Banners

Name: Ophelia Odette Smith

Age: 20

Class: Culinarian

Level: 7

Vitality: F-

Physical Defence: F-

Magical Defence: F-

Tenacity: F-

Strength: F-

Dexterity: F-

Mind: F-

Control: D

Craftsmanship: D+

Skills: 11

Crafter’s Cunning {Passive}

You are knowledgeable when it comes to items. You may Inspect unknown materials and items.

Crafting Points {Passive}

You have 9 Crafting Points, which you may spend on certain abilities while in the process of crafting. When beginning a new craft, current number of Crafting Points resets to 9.

Chef {Active}

For each Crafting Point spent on Chef, the Potency and Duration of the craft’s effects is increased by 5%. Can only be used on culinary crafts.

Culinary Tolerance {Passive}

You cannot become injured or maimed through standard culinary actions.

Filling Meal {Active}

For each Crafting Point spent on Filling Meal, the Duration of the craft’s effects and its ability to sate hunger are increased by 15%. Can only be used on culinary crafts.

Specialist: Baking {Passive}

Your culinary arts focus your power into the form of baking. When crafting a dough-based culinary dish, your available number of Crafting Points on the craft is doubled.

Magical Meal {Active}

When crafting, you may spend 5 Crafting Points to apply an enchantment to the craft upon completion based on the ingredients used. Can only be used on culinary crafts.

Sweet Tooth {Passive}

Regardless of the ingredients used or the preparation methods, your culinary dishes have a pleasant taste. This effect is more potent for sugary dishes.

Skilled Baking {Passive}

When creating a dough-based culinary dish, the craft gains a 10% bonus to Potency for each Crafting Point spent on a single skill, to a maximum of a 50% bonus per skill.

Addictive {Passive}

Whenever a creature consumes a full portion of one of your culinary dishes and gains a positive effect, any lingering positive effects from a different one of your dishes have their remaining Durations extended to match the new effect.

Sugar Rush {Passive}

While a creature is benefiting from one or more positive effects from any of your sugar-based dishes, their highest Stat of Strength, Dexterity, or Mind is increased by 10% per unique dish they are benefitting from.

Ophelia wasted no time in explaining her capabilities. She rolled easily from one skill to another, and did so with such a soft and sweet expression on her caramel-tinted face that Eris would have almost expected the girl to have been playing with a puppy while talking. Yet, she was not.

“The nature of my skills has shifted me to many different treats with long-lasting effects that stack on one another and keep being extended as long as they keep eating them regularly.”

Eris narrowed her eyes. “Did I hear that right? Addictive can make a food effect continue permanently as long as they keep eating more of your treats?”

Ophelia nodded, brushing her curly brown hair back behind one ear. “Mostly. I can make a cookie that boosts Vitality for six hours, and any time before those six hours are up, that creature can eat a different thing I made that boosts Dexterity for six hours. No matter how much time is left on that Vitality bonus, it becomes six hours again just like the Dexterity. Then if they eat a different treat that boosts Mind, or Magical Defense, or gives them fire resistance with the enchantment, or sharpens their senses, or anything, every single previous benefit of my treats will be extended.”

Ophelia held up a hand to silence Eris who was about to speak.

“However, the effect only continues for as long as they keep getting unique benefits from my treats. If I repeat any that I already did, it doesn’t reset the Duration. Therefore, yes, the skill allows me to potentially stack thirty, forty, or even more different effects on a single person, but it can be difficult to maintain, especially since many different foods would have different Durations, and trying to make my treats last longer would make them weaker. The counterpart is that Sugar Rush also provides a direct benefit to their most important stat for every single one of my effects they have, so it’s even worthwhile to make food for them that wouldn’t normally be useful- like giving a Berserker increased Mana regeneration. Even if the treat itself does nothing, it would extend all the other useful effects I put on them, and continue to increase their Strength anyway.”

Eris blinked. “That’s… potent.”

“Yes it is,” Ophelia smiled warmly. “But if you can only replicate one of my skills, the best option would undoubtedly be Addictive. The positive benefits of any food you provide would last incredibly long times already, but that skill would make it so that they can keep extending each other more and more. Not essential, but I’m afraid none of my other skills would be particularly useful to you. They are either too niche in their application of only being used on specific kinds of food, or have an effect that is weaker than anything you already have. The only one I would consider an exception is Specialist: Baking, but that’s only if it works with your skills which I don’t think it will.”

“That’s the one that gave the percentage bonus for each point spent, right?” Eris asked. Ophelia shook her head.

“No, that was Skilled Baker, and it wouldn’t be good for you. You have so much CP that you would hit the maximum effect before even getting through a tenth of your reserves. It would still be a bonus, yes, but negligible compared to everything else. My specialist skill is the one that doubles my CP on baking crafts. For me, that gives nine extra points. For you, that would give you over two hundred. Granted- it’s only for food you make and nothing else, and only for baking dishes specifically, but it is still a very potent effect for you.”

“Assuming it even works with Eris’s version of Crafting Points,” Grace said. “She has Enhanced Crafting Points, not regular ones.”

Ophelia nodded. “My concerns exactly. We’d be risking giving her a skill she can’t use.”

Eris looked inwards and tilted her head.

Enhanced Crafting Points {Passive} {Evolution 1} {Level 4} (100k)

You have {125} Crafting Points, which you may spend on certain abilities while in the process of crafting. When beginning a new craft, current number of Crafting Points resets to {125}. For every 5 Crafting Points spent on a single ability during a craft, you gain {4} additional Crafting Points that can be spent on any other ability.

“Yeah, but the only part about it that’s different is the name of the skill itself,” Eris said. “Even in the description, they’re still called Crafting Points, as in the regular kind. In Unbroken and Excellence too, it just says ‘For each Crafting Point spent’, not ‘Enhanced Crafting Point’. Based on wording alone, I think it would still work.”

“Then I suppose that is two options for you,” Ophelia said. “One that makes it so the effects of your food will last forever until you stop feeding them, or one that makes your dough-based dishes and only those dishes significantly stronger.”

Eris hummed, holding her fist against her chin. “Both have a lot of merit, to be fair. In all honesty, you might be one we can circle back to, if other people have better skills.” Eris winced. “Well- not ‘better’, better; your skills are all great! I just mean better as in better for me to replicate-”

Ophelia smiled warmly, reaching across the counter and laying a hand on Eris’s. “I know what you mean, Eris. If my skills only benefit a specific part of your crafting, they are a lower priority to replicate instead of ones that can be used on anything you make. Hima, why don’t you go next?”

As she looked over to the long-haired girl playing with her braid, Hima froze with wide eyes. “Me? Wait- why me?”

“Because someone has to go next, and you’re who I happened to be looking at.” Ophelia said matter-of-factly. Hima gulped.

“Uhh- sure? Okay, uhh… well, my stuff is pretty heavily directed in one, you know… direction, so I don’t know how useful it’ll be for Eris. Maybe after I level up and get some more skills I’ll get something better, but for now it’s a bit limited-”

“Just spit it out already!” Bailey laughed, scrawling with her pen on the notepad. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Hima nodded, visibly gathered herself, then spoke.

Name: Himari Kentasha Listle

Age: 19

Class: Weaver

Level: 5

Vitality: F-

Physical Defence: F-

Magical Defence: F-

Tenacity: F-

Strength: F-

Dexterity: F-

Mind: F-

Control: E

Craftsmanship: D-

Skills: 10

Crafter’s Cunning {Passive}

You are knowledgeable when it comes to items. You may Inspect unknown materials and items.

Crafting Points {Passive}

You have 6 Crafting Points, which you may spend on certain abilities while in the process of crafting. When beginning a new craft, current number of Crafting Points resets to 6.

Precise Needlepoint {Passive}

Any Minor bonus you provide to a stat becomes a Moderate bonus. Can only be used on woven crafts.

Threaded {Active}

For each Crafting Point spent on Threaded, the Potency of the craft is increased by 10%. Can only be used on woven crafts.

Embroidered Enhancement {Active}

For each stat bonus the craft has, you may spend 1 Crafting Point and change the nature of the bonus to a different applicable stat. Can only be used on woven crafts.

Heraldry {Passive}

Any of your crafts bearing the heraldry of your allegiance gain 1 additional stat bonus, which can only be provided to the user if they also follow your allegiance.

Fell Fibers {Active}

For each Crafting Point spent on Fell Fibers, any injury a wearer or wielder would sustain diverts 5% of the damage directly to the craft. Can only be used on woven crafts.

Thickened Strands {Passive}

The Durability of your crafts is increased by 200%. Applies only to woven crafts.

Insignia {Passive}

Any crafts benefitting from Heraldry also gain one of three enchantments of your choice: Revitalization, Resurgence, or Rejuvination. These enchantments only benefit users following your allegiance.

Bear the Standard {Passive}

When crafting a flag or banner that depicts an emblem, any creature following the allegiance of the depicted emblem gains all benefits the craft would provide to the wearer as long as they can see the flag. The effect’s strength decreases over larger distances or when obscured.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. “I’m two levels higher than you and you still have more skills than me. What the fuck?”

Hima offered an anxious smile. “I had four at level one, got another at level two, then two more at both levels three and four, then the last one at five. Granted, it’s all pretty limiting. Anything I make is almost exclusively useful to the Syndicate and only the Syndicate.”

“So what all do your skills do?” Eris asked. Hima’s fingers danced in the floof at the end of her braided hair.

“Well, some of it’s pretty straightforward. Increasing Potency with CP, or using CP to change a stat bonus to something else the material allows. Like, wool is pretty well inclined to Vitality or Magical Defence, but I can spend a point to change the bonus to Mind instead. I can’t change the stat of wool to Dexterity, since they have almost zero attunement to each other, but it offers a bit of flexibility in what I actually do. Then making my Minor bonuses Moderate. Simple, but direct and effective. Just like increasing the Durability by two hundred percent. Nothing flashy but it does a damned good job.”

“And what about all that heraldry stuff? Like… coats of arms?” Eris asked. Hima nodded.

“Yeah. I make any clothing bearing the crest of the Syndicate, and it gains a second stat bonus, which is also Moderate because of Precise Needlepoint. Anyone who works or fights for the Syndicate that wears it gains that second stat just as they would the first. Same with Insignia and the enchantments. Only people that follow the Syndicate get whichever one I put on the item.”

“And it’s specific enchantments? Not a free list?”

Again, Hima nodded. “Yeah, but they’re really simple effects. Like… really simple. ‘Revitalization’ makes people slowly recover lost vitality on their own, like a weak healing over time spell. ‘Resurgence’ is basically the same thing but with their stamina and exhaustion and stuff, making it so they can work harder and for longer. ‘Rejuvenation’, again, is the same but with Mana. They gain a bit of regeneration to their mana reserves, so spellcasters recover their stuff faster and can, you know… cast.”

“Still very potent effects. Clothing with a health regeneration effect is a very valuable commodity for any soldier,” Grace furrowed her brow. “I’m not entirely sure how that Fell Fibers skill worked, though. Does that mean it only gets damaged if the wearer gets damaged?”

“No,” Hima shook her head. “It can still get damaged as normal, no matter how many CP I spend on it. Think of it more as the clothing sacrificing itself to protect the wearer. Not like armor but- umm…” She thought for a moment, searching for the right words.

“Oh, I got it! When they would lose Vitality from an injury, the piece of clothing sacrifices its own Durability to reduce the damage they’d take based on how many points I put into the skill. So, if they’re wearing a sock with all six points put in, at five percent a pop, then it’s a thirty percent redirection effect. That person gets a cut on their arm, the cut on their arm is thirty percent shallower, or smaller, or whatever. Meanwhile, that thirty percent damage that was removed from the attack is then applied directly to the sock itself- tearing it open despite being nowhere near the attack itself. It’ll destroy the sock pretty quickly if they get hurt a lot, but that’s a lot of damage not actually going to the person wearing it, so that’s good.”

“Really good,” Eris said. “Especially with how durable my creations can be. I make a few sacrificial socks to take all the damage, and they’re tough enough that they wouldn’t need to be replaced even after weeks of constant damage. I mean, a pair of socks and a pair of gloves all at twenty-five percent would take everything, right?”

“It doesn’t say it in my skills, but they doesn’t stack,” Hima said. “If you have multiple different pieces of clothing with Fell Fibers, it doesn’t increase the total percentage of damage it redirects- just spreads the damage out between the items. They’ll all last longer as a result because there’s more total cloth to get damaged, but it doesn’t protect any more. Same with my enchantments. Each person can have all three of my enchantments at a time, but only one of each applies. I can’t make an eight-piece suit that gives them eight times the health regeneration- just one piece for health, one for stamina, and one for mana.”

“What if I just use twenty CP on Fell Fibers to make it a one-hundred percent redirection?”

Hima blinked. “Yeah, that would probably work. I think? I don’t know, but if it does then that’d be a really, really good option to replicate. Yeah, it only works on clothing and not on any of your other crafts, but it’s a skill that was obviously never meant to get above a thirty-percent value. It’s just a shame you can’t take that and Bear the Standard. That’s my most powerful skill.”

“Making flags?”

The black-and-greenette smiled. “Uh-huh! I make a flag with the Syndicate crest, and every single Syndicate soldier that can see it gets all the benefits they would have if it had been a shirt or something. Both Moderate stat bonuses on the item and the enchantment I chose gets applied to dozens, if not hundreds of people as long as they can see it. Benefit through quantity over quality, you know. But if I also did Fell Fibers on that flag, even just a few points, it’s gonna be protecting every single one of those soldiers that gets injured by reducing the damage.”

Hima’s knee was bouncing.

“With a lot of soldiers fighting it tears the flags up faster than anything even with my super high Durability bonuses, but that’s why I just make like… fifty of them at a time. It lets the Syndicate keep the benefits as long as possible when things get rough. Of course, those are just the sacrificial flags I use for taking damage. There are some that have every CP just dedicated to making the effects of the stat bonuses as powerful as possible, and those get flown to give the bonuses and the enchantments to as many people as possible. With the ridiculous levels that your bonuses can get to, being able to give it to a hundred people or more with a single item would be… well, it would be incredible.”

Bailey narrowed her eyebrows. “To be honest, you have a lot of really good options. A lot. Precise Needlepoint making all of your Minor bonuses on clothing Moderate would be insane with how unbelievably strong your items already are. Granted, you have a really good chance of getting your own skill that increases the value of your bonuses so it would only be a temporary skill, but still really good as a bonus for right now. Heraldry giving a second stat bonus is also great for the same reason of your massive power, so it’s just applying that in yet another way. That one also doesn’t have the restriction of only being used on woven stuff, right?”

Hima shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. I tried making a knife once with the symbol of the Syndicate and it still worked.”

“So yeah,” Bailey blew a raspberry. “Anything you make bearing the symbol of the Syndicate getting a second stat that gets giga-boosted from your crazy power is also a stand-out option. Based on the wording, it would probably even stack with other skills you get in the future that add more stat bonuses, meaning you’ll always get one more than you normally should. But then again, Fell Fibers has the potential to make people literally invincible to all damage until their clothes fall off, which is honestly kind of on-brand with the whole lust thing you’ve got. Or you can take Bear the Standard to be able to make a flag that can apply your ridiculous power boosts to entire armies at the same time.”

This time, it was the armoured bodyguard that nodded her head. The few strands of her brown hair loose from underneath the green bandana bobbed with the movement- only visible since her helmet was sitting on the counter beside her.

“I’d say that getting the Moderate bonus right now is probably a waste since she’s almost guaranteed to get a skill like that later. That just leaves the options of making her clothing more powerful for Syndicate soldiers, making her clothing redirect all the damage a person would take but get destroyed faster, or being able to provide wide-spread buffs to dozens if not hundreds of potential targets at a time.” She pondered, holding her chin in one hand. “All are extremely viable options.”

Kull nodded as well, eyebrows knitting together. “That they are. However, I would put less priority on adding more stat bonuses with Heraldry, since she’s likely to get a skill on her own that lets her do that. If not, there are thousands of crafters in Marrix, and plenty of others that have already graduated, many of whom have similar skills to add more stat bonuses. If nothing else, Miss Kadell can get a skill like that from them. Fell Fibers and Bear the Standard are far more unique, however, and would likely be difficult to find anything similar that Kadell could replicate.”

Bailey tapped the tip of her pen against the paper. “One that would be much, much better suited towards the betterment of a smaller strike force, by making special clothing that takes any damage they would. The other, better for larger-scale battles or extended engagement with mass amounts of Syndicate soldiers. Really, it comes down to what you’d like Eris to focus on empowering. Her Wonders, to make them the most powerful strike force the Syndicate’s ever seen, or the Syndicate armies that’ll come in to take back the land claimed by the Hollow after her Wonders eliminate whatever high-priority targets you sic them on.”

The silence in the room was thick enough to eat like a brownie, even making the hairs on the back of Eris’s neck rise in defiance. Eventually, Kull sighed.

“This may be one we need to figure out after further discussion. I am sure that Konderlacht would be very interested to state her opinions on this matter, among others. In the meantime, who would like to go next?”